Before the new coach even touched at McGhee Tyson Airport Friday morning, a lot of the buzz surrounding the announcement was negative.

Posts like "Dooley 2.0," "the next dud of a coach," and "better off to keep Fooley" were popping up all over facebook and twitter.

But after reviewing Butch Jones' records at Cincinnati and Central Michigan University, the social media mood seemed to shift from doom and gloom to excitement and warm welcomes.

The biggest concern for many tweeters centered on Jones' loss to former U.T. head coach Derek Dooley in 2011.

Although that seemed to be one of Vols fans biggest disgruntles, sports analysts and reporters were tweeting out how it was a great hire for the university.

After nearly three weeks of rumors circulating fast, Vols fans appeared to have been built up for a letdown, as big names like John Gruden and Charlie Strong got falsely thrown in the mix. Fans were holding out for on an iconic coach, not a Bearcat.

But, Jones' former mascot appeared to work in his favor as Tennessee tweeters called him "half bear the other half cat," a line from the Vols' unofficial fight song, Rocky Top.

Happy hashtags became more prominent in the later morning and afternoon, and #bUTch caught on.

"Can't spell #bUTch without UT. Let's get a new era started. 269 days until kickoff, " said one tweeter.

Others were quick to hone in on superficial aspects, like what Butch Jones will trademark.

"I take comfort in the fact that our new coach has a very intimidating yet American name," said Grace Oberholtzer.

His name received a lot of recognition. Jones' official new twitter handle, @UTCoachJones. By 11 p.m. Friday, he had more than 33,000 followers.

The University of Tennessee hopes all those Twitter followers and 60,000 of their good friends will fill seats at Neyland Stadium next year. Around 4:45 Friday morning, the Tennessee fund sent an email to alumni, students and others fans, urging them to reserve their season tickets for next season.